Take a ticket to the past this St Andrew's Day

Historic Environment Scotland is giving away thousands of tickets to some of Scotland's most iconic heritage attractions for St Andrew's Day.

Thousands of free tickets to heritage attractions across Scotland up for grabs to mark St Andrew’s Day celebrations.

Members of the public have the chance to get their hands on tickets to some of Scotland’s most iconic heritage attractions, as thousands of free tickets are made available through online pre-registration, as part of this year’s St Andrew’s Day celebrations.

Over the course of the Ticket Giveaway weekend, which takes place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November, visitors will have the chance to apply for tickets to explore centuries of history across the length and breadth of Scotland.

Thousands of tickets have been released and visitors have from now – Tuesday 10th November – until 5pm on Friday 27th November to register for theirs. Visitors can apply for a maximum of two adult and three family tickets to each historic property of their choosing; family tickets admit up to two adults and three children.

Members of the public can choose their favourite sites to visit from 35 participating winter ticketed attractions throughout Scotland, from Dryburgh Abbey in the Borders, to the UK’s best heritage attraction* Edinburgh Castle to Skara Brae in Orkney, which dates back more than 5,000 years.

Whilst there is no limit on the number of participating attractions that visitors can apply for tickets to, early online registration is encouraged to avoid disappointment.

Commenting on this year’s Ticket Giveaway weekend at Historic Scotland properties, Stephen Duncan, Director of Commercial and Tourism for Historic Environment Scotland, said: “Our Ticket Giveaway weekend offers the public a fantastic opportunity to explore and discover more about some of the country’s best known heritage attractions, including its iconic castles, abbeys and palaces, amongst others, for free.

“This weekend-long event, which forms part of Scotland’s celebrations for St Andrew’s Day, sees thousands of tickets released to fascinating sites such as Linlithgow Palace, birthplace to Mary Queen of Scots and the Highland fortress of Fort George, which are amongst more than 30 of our historic sites participating in this year’s promotion.

“The Ticket Giveaway is always extremely popular with our visitors so we would encourage early pre-registration online through the Ticket Giveaway’s dedicated website so people don’t miss out on the chance to secure a ticket for the attraction of their choice.”

The Ticket Giveaway is part of the Scottish Government’s Winter Festivals programme which sees a number of events take place across the length and breadth of Scotland in the lead up to St Andrew’s Day, right through Christmas and Hogmanay up until Burns Night.

To mark the celebrations, social media users are being encouraged to take to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share how they plan to mark St Andrew’s Day this year using the dedicated hashtag #mystandrewsday.

Notes for editors

Photography from the launch of the Ticket Giveaway at Linlithgow Palace with Mary of Guise – mother to Mary Queen of Scots – and a noble knight getting their tickets are available. These have also been sent to picture desks by photographer, Rob McDougall.

Edinburgh Castle has been voted the UK’s Best Heritage Attraction four years running in the largest consumer voted awards scheme in the UK, the British Travel Awards (BTAs).

About Historic Environment Scotland (HES)

As of the 1st October 2015, Historic Scotland and RCAHMS came together to form a new lead public body charged with caring for, protecting and promoting the historic environment. The new body Historic Environment Scotland (HES) will lead on delivering Scotland’s first strategy for the historic environment, Our Place in Time.

Year of Food and Drink 2015

2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success. Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism. A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat.